“Best Friends” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2017 written by Hridya Anna Panackal, Brunei.

Best Friends

Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Chloe. She lived in a village in England. She was very kind and hardworking and she did not have any siblings. She lived with her parents, but had no friends. She could only play with her puppy but it was not as fun as playing with friends. Since she was a shy girl, she was too afraid to talk to her classmates. She wished she had friends. It was almost the end of school holidays and Chloe was very bored.

So the next day she decided to make friends. ‘It’s going to be a school day anyway, so I should pack my bag.’ The next day came and it was time for Chloe to make friends. She was so excited that she got ready as fast as lightning. ‘Bye mum’ she said as she opened the door .As she was walking she saw a girl running in front of her .Her bag was swinging side to side. ‘That girl must be in a hurry,’ Chloe thought. Then she remembered that there was assembly. She started to walk quickly. She suddenly saw that the girl in front fell down.

‘Are you okay? What’s your name?’ asked Chloe.

‘Ya, I am ok. My name is Minnie.’

‘Your leg is bleeding. I will take you to your home.’

‘It is okay. I will be alright, you better hurry since today there is assembly.’

‘No, Minnie. I am not leaving until you get better do you know where your home is I bet you have bandages.’

‘Yes I do have bandages and my house is just near school in Simpang 364.’

‘Ok, so let’s go.’ When they reached there, they rang the doorbell and Minnie’s mother opened the door.

‘Your daughter’s leg is bleeding,’ said Chloe.

‘O my goodness, come inside both of you, I wish clean and bandage the wound’.

After Minnie washed her leg she felt better. ‘Thank you very much Chloe, if you weren’t there then no one would have helped me and my leg would have kept on bleeding.’

‘You are welcome, Minnie. I will take Minnie with me to school. Is that ok?’ asked Chloe.

‘Yes that is ok’ said Minnie’s mother. So the two went to school, Chloe asked ‘Will you be my friend?’ ‘Of course I will be your friend, after all you helped me’, answered Minnie. After that Chloe was not lonely anymore. Sometimes Minnie will come to Chloe’s house and Chloe will come to Minnie’s house. So the two friends lived happily ever after.